If you read our last discussion on the good/ bad initial impressions of the Games Workshop Dark Elves releases for 2013 you'll remember the excitement about the Witch Elves/ Sisters of Slaughter kit.The kit looks smashing and would hopefully integrate well with the amazing Dark Eldar kits sculpted by Jes Goodwin.So what are they like and will it integrate with the Dark Eldar?Check below for our sprue breakdown and observations.

~ BE WARNED - I'M NOT A PHOTOGRAPHER - SO CRAPPY PHOTOS BELOW ~

I have to say, that this is a really nice kit - but unfortunately they don't seem to have customisation on their mind. A fair bit is packed into the 4 sprues, but when you start to assemble, you can see that they really want you to stick to the poses they came up with? Is this so they rank up well?If so the ultra-boring Dreadspears / Darkshards / Bleakswords should be a warning to any designer about sculpting to fit on such a small base.

Heads

Have a look at the heads, they are of course very nicely moulded, but I was interested to find that they won't easily integrate with the Dark Eldar as they lack the ball joint on the base of the head.

One of the Witch Elf heads, minus the hair (see later). Not the most expressive face in the world, certainly less angular than I was expecting - big eyes though.

This Sisters of Slaughter head I assume is the leader, with the extended chin/ tongue. Interesting how masculine these masks are and without the hair added it gives that monk-esque shaved head look.

The intricacy of the engraving is nice and should come up even nicer than the box art if handled properly. Looking at them closer I wonder if metallics are necessarily the way to go...

There are a couple of heads that look quite demonic - this one being the stereotypical devil of medieval Europe. Nice to see Marvel Comics Green Goblin making an appearance in the GW universe!

Four more Sisters of Slaughter heads, mostly demonic, but check out the gladiatorial one 2nd from the left. Really interesting look. I wonder if it will become a fan favourite.

Two of the Witch Elf heads. I find the Witch Elf heads to be pretty much the same to be honest and the head bands kind of remind me of Sailor Moon. It's the Sisters of Slaughter for me!

Bodies

The bodies are pre-assembled minus the arms and head and one of the legs. The leg assembly is pretty much identical to the Dark Eldar Scourges.Of particular interest though is the way the arms are attached. There are no ball joints as such, with the joins being around the arm bands and in some cases the muscles

A shot of the arms assembly. As you can see, the arms join flush with arm bands - not the best method in my opinion - hard to customise!

Another shot of the arm assembly, but also the leg join and the abs. The abs are quite strong and defined in the painted GW pics, not as strong on the actual models.

Some beautiful sculpting on the back here, and a shot of how these arms attach. You can clearly see the square joins.

A few of the models have the arm join the line of muscle, which will be really nice to paint. It's a shame the rest aren't like this really. Also notice the way the heads attach flush and square rather than a ball joint.

Arms

Not a lot to say about the arms that hasn't already been covered.There's a lot of under arm daggers and some whips...I do wonder about the customisation of these figures, They really are quite static, but in brilliant poses!

Some of the many underarm dagger poses. Some big-arse swords or a trident or two would have been nice. These blades are very similar to the Black Corsairs blades.

The shield arm. Notice the right angle to join the body - would be lovely for this to be a ball joint.

The other side of the same arm (I think). Nice shoulder armour with a cool shield icon.

Other bitz

The decal sheet is nice and sizeable - pretty much the size of the box. There are lots of options, from the newer icons to earlier incarnations, and my favourite, the squid head! The colours aren't as stark as previous sheets either.

Nicely sculpted banner with 3 alternate toppers. The middle one if really nice!

Two part hair assembly - Barbie would be proud!

The underside of one of the heads - further proof that customisation wasn't big on the agenda with this kits.

As I said before, this is a nice kit - I love the Sisters of Slaughter! The Witch Elves seem more Elf than Elf Witch, but there you go.These will fit perfectly into any Dark Elf army, certainly from the previous incarnation just a few short years ago.I'm disappointed they won't really work in my dark Eldar forces as well - the bits just won't go together organically (doesn't mean I won't try mind you!)I would have liked a touch more armour, but the Sisters of Slaughter heads are great and will look great painted up.

All in all - worth a buy even for quite a high price.Are there better Witch Elves on the market by another a manufacturer? ProbablyDo you want to play in a GW tournament any time soon? ... uuuuummmmI think you just got your answer unfortunately!

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In a time before 40k, there was a band of men and women who took part in gaming without the corporate sensibilities of today. Take a step back with us and also look upon the future through wizened eyes and curious ponderings of The Beardy Hammer!